Chasing Zoey
by Sinnocence.Net
Summary: A different version of "Chasing Zoey" that goes completely AU after "Dinner for Two Many". Includes the ENTIRE gang, the junior prom and much more! ...But not really. Just read it.
1. Part I

**Author's Note: **_So here I am folks, a long-time stalker of the Zoey 101 fanfiction archives who has recently plucked up enough courage to post her first ficcie up. Hope it's not too lame. _

_Keep in mind that I began to write this before "Coffee Cart Ban" even aired and that I based the storyline around my interpretations of its promo as well as "Chasing Zoey"'s. _

_And now without much further ado…_

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

"One petite javachino, please."

Quinn Pensky flipped her stylishly waved hair over a shoulder as she placed the order and gazed out over the campus of Pacific Coast Academy. _Thank GOD the coffee carts have been unbanned,_ she thought graciously. _That entire fiasco was ridiculous!_

Her thoughts wandered back to just two weeks ago when a fellow student, Logan Reese, had patented his own coffee cart and completely overpriced everything! Soon, the other students of PCA were rebelling to the point where Dean Rivers had just had enough, therefore allowing the actual coffee carts to take their usual places on school campus once again, much to Logan's bitter protests.

The sixteen-year-old scientist also allowed her mind to rake through the silly, and yet painful conversation of their final argument as a secret couple. Struggling with the memory, Quinn paid the student worker in full and turned on her heel with a resounding, "Jerk. I can't believe I _ever_ went out with Logan Reese. Biggest. Mistake. Of my LIFE_._"

--

Dorm room 101 was currently a mess as Lola Martinez ripped through every eye shadow case she owned and carelessly tossed each one over her shoulder. "Ew, why do I even OWN salmon?" the aspiring actress groaned.

That particular color soared right past Quinn as she entered the room and missed her pancreas by inches. Her hazel eyes followed the small, rectangular palette until it hit the sofa. She looked rather amused as she said, "Lola, should I even bother to ask what you could possibly be doing right now?"

"Well, since you kind of did," Lola smartly replied, her head now buried in the closet, "I'll tell you that I'm on a search for the perfect prom dress to wear this Friday!" She emerged, hair slightly tousled, with a heap of bright clothing grasped tightly in her arms. "And the perfect make-up scheme to match, of course."

"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked, settling herself on Zoey's bed. "A prom?"

"Yeah!" her roommate said excitedly. "PCA is holding a junior prom for us this year! Friday, in fact. I think that's much too soon, but you know—," Lola broke off at Quinn's unhappy expression. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Quinn hurriedly answered. "It's just… a prom sounds fun and all, but… I don't have anyone to go with." She tried to push away her sudden feelings of loneliness, but her heart still ached as she thought of Logan and how she loved to dance with him, janitor's closet included.

Lola sat down next to Quinn, the bundle of clothing still intact. "Aw, is this about Mark?"

Quinn stared at her in surprise. "Mark?" and then hastily recovered. "I mean, yeah, kind of."

"Well, listen," Lola began, patting Quinn's knee, "you don't need a guy to go to prom. Go with your friends! Mark Schmark!" She waved her hand wildly. "Who needs boys?"

Quinn stared at Lola quizzically. "But you _have_ a boyfriend."

Lola stopped, eyes traveling upward as if she were thinking. "Well, yeah," she finally said. "But whatever! Let's go dress hunting!" She pulled her friend off the bed and they were soon immersed in the deep confines known as Zoey's Closet.

--

Zoey Brooks fell into step with her boyfriend as they walked out of their history class, ecstatic that she had just completed her last final exam of the semester.

Presently James, aforementioned boyfriend, was smiling down at her, golden hair shining in the California sun. "How about some celebratory coffees, huh Zo?"

"Sounds great." Zoey smiled happily as they reached the nearest coffee cart. "Oh, hey! Are we still on for tonight?"

"Our movie date?" James asked. "Yeah, course. Wouldn't miss it." He gave her a brilliant smile, handing over a French vanilla cappuccino.

"Thanks," Zoey said. "And in that case, I need to go get ready back at my dorm room. You mind?"

"Nah, it's cool," James replied, winking. "I have to go and clean myself up, too. Need to look good for my best girl, right?"

"Aw, but you always look ­_hot_," Zoey half-teased, briefly hugging him and turning to leave. However—

"Wait! Zoey!" James called, as if he had just forgotten something.

Zoey quickly reversed herself, only a few feet away. "What, what's wrong?"

"Um." James was nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "You hear about the junior prom this Friday?"

"Junior prom?" Zoey questioned, obviously surprised. "No, I didn't. What about it?"

Adorably uneasy, James began to shift his weight from one foot to another. "You wanna maybe… go with me?"

Zoey paused, pretending to think while painfully stretching out the next few seconds. Finally, after twirling a strand of hair thoughtfully, she said, "No, I don't."

For a moment, James just stood in place, completely shocked. "You don't?"

She smiled as she closed the distance between them and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. "Of course I do. And you're so sweet for asking, James Garrett. I will most definitely go with you to the junior prom."

James gave a sigh of relief. "You realize that that was the most frightening thing you could have said?"

Zoey shrugged. "Yeah, I know." She turned to leave once more and said over her shoulder, "But you love me for it!"

James watched his girlfriend's retreating figure. "Yeah, I do," he said more softly, grinning to himself.

--

The sun had begun to set over Pacific Coast Academy and still, a teenage boy sat, hunched over and staring at the ground as if it were going to meaningfully speak to him. So immersed in his thoughts, he didn't even notice as a very petite blonde seated herself next to him.

"Hey, Logan," she said, giving a flirtatious smile. "Whatcha doing?"

There was no answer as the boy continued to vacantly stare ahead of him.

The blonde tried once more, a little shaken and also confused. "So, you doing anything this Friday?"

No answer. Not even a simple blink. It was as if he had been body-snatched.

"Logan Reese?!" she cried indignantly.

Finally, he awoke from his trance. "Huh, what?" He glanced to the girl beside him. "Emily? When did you get here?"

"Since when do you not even notice me?" she asked, insulted. "You are a piece of work, Logan." She stood up and huffed off, her ego obviously attacked.

Logan watched her go, eyebrows furrowed. _Emily… is hot! Why did I just do that?_ _What's happening to me?_ He laughed bitterly, despite his situation. "Quinn Pensky happened to me," he muttered.

For the thousandth time, Logan was sure, he reminisced about his ex-girlfriend, Quinn. _She was so great... Soft, brown hair. Black, plastic frames. And the smell of jasmine… jasmine and science… _"That doesn't even make sense," he said aloud, shaking his head.

And once again, another girl seized the unoccupied seat next to Logan. She however, did not notice that he wasn't paying attention to her babble. It _was_ Stacey Dillsen after all.

"…and it would just be so wonderful if we could go to prom together. I mean, it's been my dream since the first time I've ever laid eyes on you! I think that you're so awesome, Logan! It's not even a question. One day, I want to become Mrs. Logan Reese and—well, I'm getting off topic. Would you like to escort me to the junior prom?

However, Logan's thoughts were still with Quinn. "Yeah, sure, whatever," he vaguely said, remembering the exact shade of her deep brown eyes.

A freakishly loud squeal was emitted from Stacey as she excitedly jumped up from the bench and rushed off, wanting nothing more than to purchase her prom dress at that very moment. Racing down the sidewalk at top speed, she collided with Michael Barret, almost knocking him clean over.

With a frightened expression upon his face, Michael took a seat next to Logan. "Dude, what is _up_ with her?"

"I think… I just agreed to take her to the prom," Logan calmly informed, a matter-of-fact tone present.

Michael's eyes widened. "Are you serious? What's wrong with _you?"_ He began to look his friend over, searching for signs of sickness or delirium.

"Oh, it's just…" Logan trailed off and in a horrific nanosecond, realized his present company and snapped right out of his misery. "Nothing! I… I just thought I'd be nice is all."

"Yeah, whatever," Michael said unbelievingly, but seemed to let it pass as he eagerly continued with, "Man, you will never believe what happened to me, though! The prom committee asked me to be the Master of Ceremonies this Friday! Cool, right?"

"Yeah, totally," Logan agreed, genuinely happy for Michael.

"So," Michael said, holding up a basketball, "you wanna go shoot some hoops with Vince?"

"Sure," Logan said, trying to act as carefree as possible. "Let's go."

Michael seemed satisfied as he stood up and began walking toward the basketball courts. Logan slowly followed him, but not after realizing that the bench he had spent most of his afternoon with was the very same bench where he and Quinn shared their first kiss.

--

A few hours had passed and still, dorm room 101 was a complete and utter mess. Evening wear of all kinds lay scattered across the furniture. Shoes were strewn from corner to corner in random piles and a colorful assortment of jewelry was taking up what little space the dresser had to offer.

"How do I look?" Quinn asked for the millionth time in a row, smoothing out the folds in the dress.

Lola looked her roommate over, scrutinizing every single detail from her place on the couch. "Like a type of citrus," she finally concluded, nodding her head.

Quinn was offended. In contrast to Lola, she thought the bright orange was actually flattering.

"No, babe," Lola said, taking note of Quinn's disbelief. She began sorting through a pile of gowns in her lap. "You need something like... THIS!" She threw a sparkling blue dress towards Quinn, who clumsily caught a hold of it.

She eyed it suspiciously. "You sure?"

"Positive!" Lola pepped. "Now try it on!"

A few minutes later, Quinn spun herself around, enjoying the feel of the blue fabric against her body. Reveling in the newfound confidence, she asked Lola, "Am I prom ready?"

Lola was so amazed, she stood next to Quinn and exclaimed, "Oh, my God! You look HOT!"

Quinn smiled at the approval and revolved once more. As she came back around, their third roommate entered the room. At the sight of the disarray, Zoey asked, "Am I missing something here?"

The girls shared a laugh as she attempted to wade through the mess that was their dorm room. Setting down her bag, Zoey began to search for a new blouse as she awaited an explanation.

"We're getting Quinn ready for the prom," Lola answered, excitedly grasping the brunette's arm.

"Oh, yeah!" Zoey said in recognition. "James just asked me to go. Isn't it great?"

"Quite awesome," Quinn chimed in, unattaching herself from Lola.

"AND we have a special date tonight," Zoey added, finding a suitable top at last.

"How adorable," Lola commented with a grin. "Ugh! Stop spinning!" she commanded Quinn. You're making me dizzy!"

Zoey laughed while giving her appearance the final check over. She then left the room, shaking her head at the two girls.

"Sorry!" Quinn said reproachfully. "I am just in love with this dress!"

"Hey," Lola interrupted. "We haven't even talked_ jewelry_ yet." At that, she pulled her roommate over to the dresser and began to uncomfortably stick her with earrings of all shapes and colors.

--

_Oh, come on James! The movie starts in three minutes. Where are you?_ Zoey paced the front of the movie theater and began to rationalize. _He probably just got caught up somewhere. No need to freak out, Zo._

She stopped her repetitive movements and smoothed out her blouse. _But he better get here soon!_

Suddenly, Zoey's thoughts were diverted as she felt a vibration in her front pocket and a default ringtone. "Who's calling me?" she wondered aloud, whipping out her phone. Its LCD screen read: 'Chase Matthews' and when she flipped it open, revealed an old picture of him that was taken while he was a still a student at PCA.

"Oh, my God," she whispered before pressing 'Answer.'

"Hi, Zo," Chase greeted warmly.

"Chase," Zoey said breathlessly. "It's so good to hear your voice!"

"You, too," he replied. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be wearing that red shirt, you know, the one with the bronzy streaks across it?"

Zoey glanced down at herself and said, "Well, yeah, but—"

"And you wouldn't happen to be standing in front of the PCA campus theater, would you?"

"Yes, I am, but—"

"But you're wondering how I know all of these things?" Chase asked, interrupting her once again.

Zoey sighed, almost exasperated. "Yes!"

To that, he simply said, "Turn around."

She did and saw nothing… until she gazed upward. There on the roof of one of the neighboring class buildings sat Chase, sporting his brown, bushy hair accompanied with a winning smile.

Hanging up her phone, Zoey said, "Oh, my GOD!"

"What's up, Zo?" Chase asked, putting his own cell phone away.

"Chase!" she excitedly squealed. "What are you doing up there?"

He stood and spread his arms out. "Makes for a good entrance, don'tcha think?"

"I'll say," Zoey said, looking up at him. "Now get your butt down here so I can hug you til suffocation!"

"Well _that_ doesn't sound very promising," Chase teased. However, he disappeared out of view, no doubt making his way down a ladder. Soon, he emerged from the shadows and trotted towards Zoey for a much needed embrace.

_He's warm,_ Zoey noted, snuggling deep into his broad chest. "I missed you," she said, her voice a bit muffled.

"I missed you, too," Chase mirrored, speaking into her hair. "I can't wait to—"

"Zoey?" a third voice spoke, the sentimental moment shattering.

The hug was broken and the two jumped apart to devastatingly find James standing before them, a flower in hand and an utterly confused look upon his face. "What's… going on here?" he asked as he approached the pair.

After a painful silence, Zoey spoke first. "James…" she addressed. "This is Chase. You know, I told you about him. He just came back from London."

"Hi," he curtly said, his eyes flitting to Chase for a split second.

"Hey," Chase replied, raising a hand half-heartedly.

"And Chase, this is James… my boyfriend," Zoey said, wincing inwardly at the last two words.

Another uncomfortable quiet penetrated the threesome.

"Oh," Chase finally said. "Well then, um, should I go? Were you in the middle of something?" He nodded towards James' hand, which was currently handling a red rose.

"Well—," Zoey began.

"No," James finished. "You guys catch up. I know it's been a while, you being in London and all…" He began to back away. "Night, Zoey. Bye, _Chase_." And before Zoey could protest, James turned his back and headed in the opposite direction.

At a loss of words, Zoey and Chase merely stared at each other for several minutes. Both of them silently knew that James' quick exit was not to be mistaken as a humble gesture; he was pissed.

* * *

**The OTHER Author's Note: **_Well, tis the end of the first chapter and it wouldn't be all that bad if you dropped a lovely, little review. Feedback people, c'mon! Tell me how I'm doing so far! Constructive criticism is welcome. Immature flames are not. _

_Have a nice day. _

_-Sin_


	2. Part II

**Author's Note: **_Hey all! Thanks for the positive reviews! They made me feel all happy and stuff… So anyway, this is the second part and is kind of a plot development chapter. Hope you all enjoy it anyway!_

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

"Okay, so, hoops or hangings?" Lola pulled her hair back to reveal two differently styled trinkets in each of her ears.

Quinn tore her eyes away from the laptop screen. "Um… I'd have to say the hanging ones," she said with a nod. As Lola seemed satisfied with her answer, Quinn refocused on the task in front of her: defragmenting her hard drive.

It was not long however before she was distracted once again. For Zoey had entered the room, making her presence known by stalking about and issuing obviously irritated noises.

"Hey, Zo!" Lola shouted, waving with her free hand, the other occupied with several pairs of heels.

"Hi," she answered, her expression serious. "Look, I gotta tell you guys something."

"Oh, wait!" Quinn interrupted. "Have you picked out a dress yet? The prom's only two days away you know."

"No, but I—"

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lola demanded, hands on hips. "No worries. We've still got plenty for you to try out!" She pulled Zoey over to the closet where indeed, a huge selection of dresses was hung.

Zoey wrenched her arm out of Lola's grasp. "I don't want to—"

But Quinn cut her short once more. "Do you even know what color corsage James is getting you? That's actually very important, though the majority of the student population just doesn't realize how much!"

Lola nodded approvingly. "Finally! You're catching on to this fashion stuff! I'm so proud of you!" She gave Quinn a loving squeeze.

"Now if only you'd show the slightest interest in science," Quinn retorted with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, like science is gonna help me with _my_ life," Lola replied, obviously skeptical.

"You guys!" Zoey whined. "I _need_ to tell you something! Something really, really—"

A firm knock on the door broke off her plead. Exasperated, Zoey threw up her arms and collapsed backwards onto her mattress. Lola however, called, "Come in!"

Coco, the well-known and ravioli-loving girls' dorm advisor, pushed the door open and stood before them with a small metal box and a roll of purple tickets. She was greeted accordingly by Lola and Quinn while Zoey remained silent, staring at the ceiling above.

"So, you guys get your tickets to the prom yet?" she asked, holding them up. "Seven bucks a piece. Oh and Vince already bought you one, Lola. You too, Zoey. From James." Coco tore off two purple slips rather sloppily and tossed it to the girls. "Gonna pay up, Quinn?"

While Lola squealed happily and Zoey distastefully eyed the paper, Quinn reached for a pile of dollar bills lying atop the dresser. "Here," she said, handing over seven exactly. "Ticket, please!"

"Yeah, yeah," Coco said, obliging. "Say… you guys haven't seen my hot pink bras anywhere have you? Been missing a couple…" She suspiciously swept her eyes around their dorm room as if they could be secretly stashed in between the cushions of their couch.

"Yeah, no," Lola said, wrinkling her noise. "So… go away!"

Coco took no offense and simply shrugged. "Kay! See you guys later." The door closed behind her.

"How _awesome_ is this?" Quinn asked, almost rhetorically.

"Like more awesome than… PIE!" Lola answered, for lack of a better expression.

The girls clutched their tickets and enthusiastically shrieked with joy. That was when Zoey lost her cool.

She resolutely stood, sucked in as much air as her lungs would hold and shouted, "I'm NOT going to prom!"

--

Chase strolled through the boys' dorm building as if it was second nature to him, and it practically was. PCA had been his home for more than five years. How could he possibly forget? _Hope the guys are up,_ he thought, glancing at his watch. 10: 54 am. _Yeah, they'll be there. They better be._

He stopped at the appropriate room, staring at the door. "Here it goes," he said, raising a fist to knock.

But at that very moment, the door swung open to reveal a Mr. Logan Reese. By pure accident, Chase's fist rammed into his forehead. Thankfully, his dirty blonde curls took most of the impact.

"Dude!" Logan exclaimed. "Watch where you're—!" He broke off, closing and reopening his eyes several times. "Chase! CHASE! What're you doing here?" He stepped forward and gave his longtime friend what they would call a 'manly hug.'

"I'm back, man," Chase answered, grinning. "My one semester of London schooling is officially over!"

Logan mussed Chase's bush of a head and said, "Michael! Get over here!"

Michael obeyed, barely believing what he had hearing. Sight, however, was a different matter completely. After a moment of pure disbelief, the two began to indulge in several manly hugs and shouts of "Dude! I missed you so much!"

Over his friends' shoulders, Chase spotted a gleam of bright blonde and leaned to his left, noticing that James Garrett was seated on the single bed, watching this emotional reunion without a word.

"So… you room with my friends too, huh?" Chase asked, annoyed that James was taking up _his_ space, what was supposed to be _his_ bed. This particularly bothered him because due to the lack of room openings, Chase was forced to spend the night in the boys' lounge.

"Small world," James coolly replied.

A silence passed between the two, but it was soon broken as Logan and Michael began to speak of a lunch involving large amounts of food and their usual girl company.

"Sounds great," Chase said, feeling a rush of excitement at the prospect of seeing his old friends.

Slightly ruining the moment, Logan queried, "Hey James, wanna come?"

James shook his head, knowing that his accompaniment would be an intrusion. "I'm good. You guys go ahead."

Chase couldn't help but feel immensely satisfied that James wasn't joining them. _Seriously, what's worse than having the boyfriend of the girl of your dreams hang out with you, your friends, _and_ said girl of your dreams? Awkward…_

However, that was soon taken off his mind as Logan and Michael began to ask a million different questions at a mile a minute, allowing no room for Chase to even answer.

_Ah, it's good to be back,_ he joyously thought.

--

Quinn and Lola stood rooted to the spot, still clutching their tickets and disbelievingly staring at Zoey. The two girls were simply unable to process her previous outburst. The blonde was gazing right back at them, her eyes reproachful, her expression hurt.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Quinn asked, slowly approaching Zoey.

Zoey however, moved aside and evasively replied, "I'm just not."

"Well, there's got to be a reason. You can't just _not_ go," Lola chipped in.

"I can and I will," Zoey said, bending down to open the mini fridge and grabbing a Blix. She proceeded to uncap and drink it while her roommates gaped at her wordlessly.

"Zoey, what's up with you?" Lola asked, walking towards her.

This time, she did not move. "Nothing," Zoey firmly said.

"I think that nothing has a whole lot of something behind it," Quinn said from across the room.

Zoey merely sighed. "Guys—"

Lola cut her off. "Tell us what's wrong, Zoey. We'll find out sooner or later anyway."

_Yeah, they will,_ Zoey thought, knowing that Chase was bound to show up sometime today. "Okay," she said. "But this is big."

"Bigger than the Chase thing?" Quinn intriguingly asked, referring to the beginning of the semester.

"In ways…" She took a seat on her bed next to Quinn. "I got a call from Chase last night."

Lola gasped. "Oh my God, really? What did he say? Tell us!" She was given a look from both Quinn and Zoey. "Sorry," she said, sheepishly lifting her shoulders.

"Well, he told me to turn around," Zoey began and at their confused faces, she continued with, "And he was on top of the science building roof!"

Quinn caught on first. "He's back at PCA?!"

Zoey nodded, causing Lola to jump up from her seat and say, "Oh. My. GOD! This _is_ big." She paused. "So why aren't you happy about it?"

"Well… James kind of saw us hugging," Zoey said, a wave of guilt coming down upon her.

"Oh…" was all Quinn could say, while Lola was speechless at this point.

"And he told us we could go and 'catch up' or whatever," Zoey carried on, "but I knew he wasn't very pleased. I haven't even talked to him today." She brought her hands up and covered her face. "Ugh! I feel awful!"

Lola found her voice and gently asked, "Well… what happened with Chase?"

Zoey picked her head up and gave her first smile of the conversation. "We went to the lounge and just talked. About everything, even James."

"What'd he say?" Quinn asked eagerly.

"He said he was fine with me and James being together, but," Zoey sighed, "I don't believe it. He's upset, too."

"Oh, Zoey," Lola said, giving her friend a reassuring hug. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"But how can it?" Zoey asked helplessly. "I have two of my best guy friends angry with me! Chase was expecting to just come back and sweep me off my feet while James is already my boyfriend! Now don't you see how I can't go to prom? I mean, who would I go with? Chase or James, because either way, I end up hurting someone! It's better not to go at all."

An eerie silence encompassed the room for several seconds while they all pondered the question, Chase or James? However, when the girls' cell phones began to simultaneously chime with newly arrived text messages, Zoey, Quinn and Lola just about jumped out of their skin.

Quinn reached hers first. After skimming the text, she said, "It's Michael. He says he wants us to meet in the courtyard. He has a 'surprise' for us."

The girls shared despairing glances, knowing full well what the "surprise" was and that it could only go downhill from here.

--

"Meet me… in… the court…yard," Michael muttered, pressing the corresponding buttons on his phone. "I have… a sur—"

"Dude! Do you have to do that?" Logan irritably asked, walking beside him.

"Why? Do you have a problem with my texting?" Michael loftily questioned, finishing off the message.

"I think he does," answered Chase, laughing slightly. "So, where we going?" He gestured out towards the spacious campus of PCA, fully appreciating the fresh air in comparison to the overall bleak atmosphere of London.

"Courtyard," Michael said, "Told the girls to meet us there."

"Yeah, well," Logan began. "We might have a problem with that."

"Uh, why?" Chase asked.

"Because Quinn and Lola are running over here at top speed ready to knock you flat," Logan explained gesturing to the steadfastly approaching figures.

"What the—WHOA!" And just as Logan had predicted, Lola and Quinn nearly barreled Chase over with one of their overwhelming bear hugs. For several minutes all that could be heard was:

"Chase!"

"Chase!"

"You're here!"

"You really are!"

"We missed you!"

"We—"

Chase gave a groan, feeling a clenching pain around his stomach. "Ow…" was all he managed to get out.

"Wish girls would hug _me_ like that…" Michael said wistfully.

"Psh, whatever man," Logan said with a roll of his eyes.

Choosing to ignore his friends and after finally catching his breath, Chase said, "I missed you girls, too. No fun at Covington without you all." His expression changed. "Hey, where's Zoey?"

"Right here," a small voice said.

Lola and Quinn awkwardly moved aside to reveal that Zoey had hung back and not run as the both of them had excitedly done so. She also had not engaged in the happy reunion.

"Hey," Chase said.

"Hi," she replied.

Michael, oblivious to the tension between the two, asked, "Well, why don't we all just hang out? Get some lunch or something?"

A chorus of "Yeah" and "Sounds good" met his request. Thus, the group began to move onward.

Zoey however, interrupted. "Well, I can't. You guys go ahead. I have to find James." As she said his name, she glanced at Chase, making eye contact.

Michael and Logan shrugged off her decline, while Quinn and Lola nodded knowingly. Chase said nothing though, as he watched Zoey reluctantly turn her back and walk in the opposite direction.

--

Clutching a small yellow sphere, James aimed for the miniature basketball goal perched right above the doorway. A flash of Chase Matthews appeared in his mind, completely throwing off his concentration. He watched as the ball clumsily left his hands and bounced off the plastic rim.

James angrily let himself fall onto the bed, wondering _why_ he just couldn't stand this guy.

_Well, he _was_ hugging Zoey._

But they're only good friends!

_Yeah, right. _

Yeah! They're _only_ friends.

_So what's the problem then?_

…I'm jealous.

And that was the truth of it all. James was flat-out, green-with-envy and regrettably so _jealous_. But just as he reached this conclusion, the door swung open, presenting the girl in question, Zoey.

He sat up straight. "Zoey. What're you doing here?"

She gave a prolonged pause. "Um, we need to talk," she finally answered.

Feeling some pent up anger rise inside of him, he bitingly asked, "Well before we discuss that, how was your talk with Chase? Illuminating of sorts? Did you have a good time?"

She walked forward, eyebrows furrowed. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Because," James said, "as soon as this guy strolled right back into your life, it's as if I'm not important anymore!"

"James, I never said that!" Zoey said, indignant.

"You sure are acting like it!" he retorted.

"Just stop!" Zoey commanded. "You haven't even given me a chance to explain. I mean, do you even know what I'm feeling right now?"

James said nothing, so she heatedly continued.

"Guilty," she answered. "Yeah, guilty! Because with Chase, I feel like I broke something in our friendship, like it'll never be the same again. And I feel like I betrayed _you_ just for being glad that Chase is back! I don't even know who to turn to anymore." Defeated, she sat down beside him on the bed. "I'm just confused…"

James comfortingly put an arm over her shoulders. "Oh Zo, please don't… What're _you_ doing here?" His tone changed immediately and he was now coldly staring at the doorway.

And there stood Chase, leaning against the door frame with his arms tightly crossed. "Visiting a friend."

Zoey sensed trouble.

"We're kind of in the middle of something," James said, keeping his arm firmly around Zoey's shoulders. "Come back later."

"Yeah, no," Chase replied. "I need to talk to Zoey."

"_I _need to talk to Zoey," James spat right back.

"Guys!" Zoey jumped up from her seat. "Let's not do this now."

"No, Zoey," Chase said. "This has to happen sooner or later."

"Yelling at each other is not gonna solve anything!" she reasoned, but rather angrily.

"Well, we all know what's happened," James said, standing up as well. "Maybe you should just, you know, _choose_ and we can all move on with our lives."

Zoey rounded on her boyfriend. "_Choose?_ Did you just ask me to choose between the two of you?"

He put his hands up in defense. "I didn't want to be the one to say it, Zo, but it's gotta happen one way or another."

She reversed herself, realizing that Chase was much too quiet. "Do you expect me to choose, too?"

But Chase remained silent and only lowered his head.

Zoey took that as a 'yes.' "Oh, my God! I-I'm NOT choosing. It's just… just wrong and… WRONG!" More broken than ever, she charged right past the two boys without a second glance, leaving them to compete in the ultimate death stare contest.

Eventually, after a few minutes of fierce nonstop glaring, Chase knew that he would have to be the one to leave. This _was_ James' room. Feeling as though he had lost some battle, he uprooted himself and left the doorway, having no idea where he was headed.

--

Roaming the built walks of PCA's campus, Logan began to stare straight up towards the sky. It was a bright and cloudless day as it could only be in golden California. The weather almost seemed to match his mood. Almost.

Having Chase back was great fun, don't get him wrong. Their lunch passed by in the same manner it would have a year ago: wildly and hilariously random. But he still couldn't stop thinking about her.

_I'm hopeless,_ Logan thought. _Quinn just won't leave my brain! _Shaking his head, he brought his attention back to front and collided with another moving person.

"LOGAN! HERE YOU ARE!"

He loudly groaned at the slightly lisped shriek of his name. "What do you want, Stacey?"

"Well," she began animatedly, "I need to know which dress you'd prefer for me to wear when we go to the junior prom together tomorrow night!"

Logan shifted his glance and noticed that she was holding two drastically different dresses by their hangers. One was bright yellow, similar to her Miss PCA evening gown and the other was a deep pink, almost fuchsia.

It was then that he just wanted to let it all out, to scream, "I'M NOT GOING TO THE PROM WITH YOU!" and "LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU PSYCHO!", but his reason for swallowing the raging anger building up inside was a mere two feet away, eyeing them oddly.

He spoke a few volumes louder. "Yeah, uh, I think you should wear this one, baby!" he said, fingering the pink dress. "I want you to look HOT!"

As Stacey nearly had the equivalent to a heart attack, Logan glanced to his right, wondering if he had gotten a reaction out of Quinn. And in fact, he did. The brunette was giving them quite the evil eye until she turned straight on her heel and stalked off towards the girls' dorm building.

Logan gave a whispered, "Yes!", but the elated feeling became bittersweet no more than four seconds later. Now all he wanted to do was to run to Quinn, comfort her, and apologize for his stupidity. This want caused him to sigh depressingly. _Ah! It doesn't make sense anymore! That should've felt really good! _

And then Logan remembered. _Crap. I've actually got to take Stacey Dillsen to the prom tomorrow night…_ He hung his head, wondering how he got himself into these things.

* * *

**The OTHER Author's Note: **_Well, the next chapter to be posted is the last. I know, this ficcie is rather short, but that's just how I am. Besides, if I feel inspired enough, I'll start writing "From the Cutting Room Floor…"_

_Thanks for reading and don't forget to review, happy people!_

_-Sin_


	3. Part III

**Author's Note:** _CRAP, I am SO sorry that it took me this long to update. I could barely get online during the school week and then by the time I realized how long it had been, I spazzed. Lol. Anyway, this is the last chapter and I hope it doesn't disappoint..._

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

"Lola!" Quinn whined. "You're taking up my mirror space!"

"Well I'm sorry, but I need this more than you do!" Lola replied, not seeming too sorry at all. She began to carefully apply a light coat of black mascara.

"No, you don't!" Quinn argued. "_I_ need to look awesome!" Her thoughts traveled to yesterday afternoon when Logan had attempted to humiliate her with Stacey after lunch. This completely fueled Quinn to look her best and act like she had never even _heard_ of Logan Reese.

Lola took a step back from the bathroom mirror. "Are you kidding? You already look awesome! Now quit complaining and help me with this strap."

Quinn obliged, but grudgingly so. Later however, she set the small fuss aside and the two were happily joking around as they made their way back into their dorm room. But a not-so-happy sight lay before them, causing their laugher to cease almost immediately.

Zoey was currently in bed, pajamas and all, with the comforter drawn up to her chin. She stared blankly ahead and most likely had no intention of moving whatsoever.

They gave the finishing touches to their appearances in quiet, not wanting to upset their third roommate, but just when they were about to leave, Quinn motioned for Lola that it was time to have The Talk with Zoey.

Lola nodded and began. "Hey Zo?"

Her voice came out as hoarse crack. "Yeah?"

"We've been thinking," Quinn continued, "that it's time to get your butt up and _do_ something about this situation."

"Nicely done, Quinn," Lola dryly commented. "But it is true, Zoey. You can't just avoid the guys forever."

"But what am I supposed to do?" she asked desperately. "I'm so confused! My mind keeps pulling me one way and my heart keeps pulling me the other."

"Well we can't tell you what to do, Zo," Lola said.

"Yeah," Quinn added. "And I bet, deep down, you already know who you want to be with."

Zoey quickly sat up, hers first real movement in hours. "Really? Who?"

The girls groaned. "Come on, Zoey! We can't tell you!"

The blonde let her chin drop a bit… only to pick it up a few moments later. "You guys are right," she said. "I _do_ know I want to be with… I gotta go!" With that, she bounded out of bed and disappeared from the room no more than two seconds later.

"We're good," Lola said.

"Yeah, we are," Quinn agreed. "Ready to go?"

"Most definitely!" came Lola's enthusiastic answer.

"Then let us go," Quinn said, offering an elbow to her friend, which Lola gladly took. The two left the room with a flourish, their destination being the school gym AKA the junior prom.

"Oh, ten bucks on James!"

"You're on."

--

There were no words to describe Logan Reese at the moment. 'Miserable' fell short. "Tortured" was laughable. Even 'Completely Screwed to the Point of Crying' was weak.

"Just kill me!" he said, directing the statement upwards.

But apparently, his grumbled commentary fell on Stacey's deaf ears. For her, this was the most magical night of her life. Attending the junior prom with the school hunk? Yeah, that was something to talk about. For hours… and hours… and hours…

Logan was painfully aware that this was the ultimate punishment for him: having to spend an entire night with a girl that was obsessed with cotton swabs. How _sad._

And he couldn't even vent to anyone! Michael was busy chatting it up with the DJ and nervously practicing his speeches as Master of Ceremonies. James was nowhere to be seen and neither was Chase. Even the girls hadn't arrived yet.

Having nothing better to do, Logan picked a pear from one of the many fruit bowls lying around as props of the Jungle Fever theme and began to repeatedly thump himself in the head with it. But Stacey soon dragged him to the front of the crowd forming around the stage, excitedly repeating, "It's gonna start! It's gonna start!"

Michael grabbed a microphone, testing it and receiving a small amount of feedback. "Hey all you PCA-ens! Are you ready for the most rocking time of your LIFE?!"

The crowd roared with delight, anticipating the best.

Logan however, moved his attention to the double doors, noting that two girls had just entered. One of them was obviously Lola, her hair held in a high bun, a thin red dress complimenting her shape. And the other was… _Quinn?_

_She doesn't really look that different,_ Logan reasoned. But she did. It was the way she wore her dress, the aqua causing a sort of glowing aura to form around her. It was the way that she moved, comfortably adjusting the lily tucked behind her right ear. _It's confidence, _he recognized. _Wow. She looks amazing._

Still a bit dazed as Michael said, "LET'S PARTY IT UP!", he could only raise a slow hand in celebration and think, _I gotta get her back._

--

"I gotta get him back!" Zoey cried, more to herself than anyone.

She was tirelessly sprinting through the junior boys' dorm building, hoping to catch a glimpse of whom she was looking for. After checking almost every room, Zoey dashed outside, wondering if he could possibly be at the prom.

­_Oh, where are you, where are you?_ she mindlessly repeated, a nonstop chant racing through her brain. She had finally reached the gym and was debating whether or not to go inside. She was clad only in her pajamas and this could get potentially embarrassing. However—

"Looking for me?" a voice interrupted, a matching figure stepping out from behind the shadows.

Zoey stood stock-still. "James…" she whispered.

--

_The first few minutes were bearable,_ thought Quinn. _But this is just disgusting!_

She was referring to the public displays of affection that Lola and Vince had taken to once they had spotted each other within the gymnasium. Now, they were cuddling nonstop and using excessive baby-talk. It was enough to drive a person wild! And Quinn was dangerously close.

Instead of continuing to witness the couple act like two love-blinded imbeciles, Quinn began to walk the floor of the gym, admiring the effort put into the Jungle theme.

"You look nice," said a voice directly behind her, being well heard over the loud volume of the pounding music.

Taken by surprise, Quinn whipped around to find no one other than Logan, who was decked out in a tuxedo. She took notice that it looked rather _good_ on him.

_Stop it,_ she commanded herself. _Just brush him off._

"Yeah, well—" Quinn began.

"We need to talk," Logan blurted out, dragging her to a more discreet corner.

_Here we are, hiding again,_ she sighed. "So? What did you want to talk about?" Quinn cocked her head and impatiently waited for an answer.

There seemed to be a small period of silence from him before he spoke. "Okay, you have _got_ to know that this is the hardest thing for me to say," Logan began, "but… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk to you during the whole coffee cart ban thing and I'm sorry for making us break up over the wrong reasons."

This was certainly the last thing Quinn expected for him to say. "I see," she evenly replied, trying to hide her surprise.

"Take me back?" he hopefully asked, spreading his arms.

"I…I…" Quinn could barely speak. "I can't!"

Logan seemed to wilt, obviously expecting her to say the opposite. "…What? Why?"

"Well…" Quinn said, treading carefully around the subject. "It's not that I don't accept your apology or anything… It's just that I think we're better off as friends."

Logan's hopeful expression changed to disbelief. "You're got to be kidding me, Quinn." When she began to avert her gaze towards the floor, he asked, "What are you afraid of?"

Quinn fiercely snapped her head back up. "Nothing!" she said defiantly. "Now.. I have to go! Let's just… not…"

And with a flash of blue fabric, she lightly pushed past him, leaving Logan to stare after her in what could only be described as pure confusion.

--

The longer she stood there, the more nerve-wracked she became. "I have something to tell you," Zoey finally murmured, ungluing herself from the ground and approaching James.

He nervously held his breath, unable to look away. "Yeah?"

_I'm so sorry about this, but…_ Zoey shook her head."I can't… be with you anymore," she said with much difficultly. "I belong with someone else."

James let out a long breath, saying nothing for quite some time, but he was clearly disappointed. "If you've gotta do this… I guess I understand." He still hadn't broken eye contact.

"Oh, James…" Zoey said, giving him a consoling hug. "I'm sorry to have to put you through this."

"No, I'm sorry for acting like I did," he maturely compensated. "Still friends?"

Zoey didn't even pause. "Of course. Still friends."

Remembering her situation, Zoey began to frantically sweep her eyes across the school campus. "I need to go, James, but we'll see each other soon, okay?"

He solemnly nodded, his heart experiencing a sickening descend as she darted off, fuzzy bunny slippers almost burning up the sidewalks.

--

Feeling completely alone and dejected, Quinn removed the lily from her hair and began to mindlessly twirl it round and round between her fingers. She glanced over her shoulder from where she was sitting and saw that Michael was revving up the crowd once more and that the majority of the prom goers were absolutely loving it.

_If only…_ she sighed.

"Quinn, what's the matter with you?" Lola asked, taking a seat right next to her.

"Nothing at all, Lola," she automatically replied.

"Yeah, I may be me, but I'm not dumb," Lola said, unconvinced. "You've been acting really weird since you talked with Logan."

Quinn's defensiveness sparked up. "Logan has nothing to do with it!"

"Uh…" Lola said, raising an eyebrow. But she was soon distracted by a tall figure coming their way. "Hey, baby!" She began to enthusiastically wave at her boyfriend.

Vince Blake, grinning from ear to ear, approached the two girls with drinks in hand. He gave one to Lola and said, "Hi, sweetness! Hey Quinn." He acknowledged her with a slight tilt of the head.

"Hi, Vince," Quinn replied with no emotion. At her friend's odd behavior, Lola seized the chance to furtively whisper into Vince's ear. Then—

"Hey Quinn?" Vince suddenly questioned, much to Lola's delight. "You wanna dance?"

Quinn stared up at him, confused. She glanced towards Lola, who showed no objections. "Um…"

"Yeah that's totally not happening, man," another voice broke in. It was Logan, making yet another appearance.

"Logan?" Lola asked, looking him up and down. "What are you over doing here?"

But he ignored her and directed his next question towards Quinn, "Do you wanna dance with me, Quinn? As friends?"

A feeling of uneasiness was descending upon Quinn and forced the general atmosphere between Vince, Lola, Logan and herself to become rather uncomfortable.

In order to escape the discomfort, she quickly said, "Sure," and allowed Logan to take her hand, pretending that Lola and Vince _weren't _staring at them, mouths agape.

Just her luck, the upbeat rock song transitioned to a rather slow number and the two were forced to position themselves accordingly. Logan comfortably snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her close, giving Quinn no choice but to loop her own arms around his neck.

"Your heart's racing," Logan noted, concerned.

"Is it?" Quinn asked, knowing full well that it was.

"You're nervous," he said, grinning.

"I am not!" Quinn argued, resorting to defiance. "Well, maybe…"

"About what?" Logan asked, still holding her closely. "We've danced before."

"It's not that," she said, uneasily.

Logan finally pulled back, looking her in the eyes. "Then what? Is it me, us?"

"Well… kinda," Quinn reluctantly answered, feeling vulnerable. "It's just that… if we get back together, there's a chance we could break up again, and it almost devastated me the first time and I—"

"That's not gonna happen again," Logan promised. "I can guarantee it."

Quinn warmly smiled at him, but it soon dropped as they both felt the intimacy rising between them. "I'm also… afraid…that I might…" Their foreheads were now touching and her voice was dropping to a tone slightly above a whisper as she said, "…do this…"

Their lips met for the first time in a long while and they shared quite the kiss. It lasted for several moments and was deepening by the second. They did break apart eventually, but not by choice. In fact, an agonized shriek sounded not five feet away, causing them to abruptly stop.

"LOGAN?!" Stacey was stomping towards them as well as she could in her heels. "You told me you were getting some fruit punch! I was waiting for you for several minutes! It made me upset! And now I find you dancing with her?! It's just…just…" Stacey gave another scream of frustration and despair as she raced off, leaving the gym.

"Oh, I feel so bad for her…" Quinn said regrettably.

"Don't worry about it," Logan reassured. "She'll be back to loving me in no time."

Suddenly the gym seemed much too quiet. Quinn broke away from Logan's hold and noticed how everyone had circled around them, pointing and whispering. Even the DJ had stopped the music, mildly interested in what was about to go down.

"Yes, we're dating!" Logan shouted, saving his gossiping peers the trouble of asking. "Aren't we?"

He glanced over at Quinn, who remained expressionless. But then she shouted, a riotous tone to her voice, "Heck yeah, we're dating! Anyone got a problem with it?"

They received no answers, just surprised looks and a "Who woulda thought?" here and there.

"Michael, my man!" Logan said, facing the stage. "Get the music back on! I wanna dance with my girl!" He was given a thumbs-up from his friend and a fast-paced track fully blasted from the speakers, compliments of the DJ.

Quinn laughed breathlessly as Logan twirled her in time to the beat. "That wasn't too bad, was it?"

"Nah, it was awesome!" Logan answered, moving in closer and capturing her lips for another sweet kiss.

Giggling when they separated, Quinn planned to spend the rest of the night on the dance floor, not wanting to leave her boyfriend's side for a second.

_Hm, boyfriend,_ she thought, landing an outrageous dip. _Sounds nice._

--

Zoey was starting to feel hopeless. Chase was nowhere to be found and she was beginning to think that he had somehow left without telling anyone.

_But he can't have!_ Zoey desperately thought. _I need tot talk to him before it's too late!_

Her pace now slowed to a fast walk as she squinted through the night's darkness. Something very peculiar jumped out at her: someone, dressed in a purple T-shirt, was sitting at the edge of the PCA wishing fountain.

_Is it…?_ Zoey's heart jumped into her throat. _It is!_

"Chase!" she called, steadily approaching him.

He broke his gaze with the water, surprised to hear anyone calling his name. The coin in his hand dropped, making a slight _plonk!_ as he greeted her with a dismal, "What's new, Zo?"

Now it seemed as if Zoey couldn't find the right words to express herself. Even though several phrases raced through her mind, she lamely began with, "Can I sit with you?"

Chase shrugged, gesturing to the space next to him.

Realizing that she might as well be the one to start, Zoey said, "Look, there's no easy way to say this, but…" and she didn't utter a word. She merely leaned closer to him, closing the gap and gave Chase Matthews a kiss that was at least three and a half years overdue.

It became much deeper than they had bargained for and Zoey felt as if she were falling.

_SPLASH!_

The two teenagers quickly opened their eyes to reveal that they had shamelessly fallen in the PCA wishing fountain. Zoey, as well as Chase, could feel several pennies, nickels, and dimes beneath them.

Chase spoke first. "Wow," he said. "That was… nice."

Zoey gave him a bright smile. "I thought so, too."

"So… James?" Chase questioned, pushing the plastered hair off his forehead.

"I'm not with him anymore," Zoey answered. "I'm with you, obviously." She laughed, carefree, and gave him a splash.

"Oh, you're asking for it now, Brooks!" Chase warned, sending a humongous wave her way.

The newly formed couple indulged in a water war, causing most of it to land outside of the fountain. Standing up, Chase gave Zoey a hand and pulled her into another kiss.

"I could live with this," Chase said, sighing happily.

"Come on," Zoey urged. "Last one to the lounge has to dry off without a towel!" She raced off, leaving him to sputter indignantly. He ran closely behind her, feeling as if he would be chasing Zoey forever.

--

The entire gang was seated in some way or another in the lounge and had taken to discussing tonight's crazy and whacked out events. The junior prom was officially over and even though some of them hadn't even attended, the group still had plenty to talk about.

"So wait," Michael interrupted. "Both of you fell into the fountain?"

Chase shrugged. "Isn't that what it looks like?" He motioned to the complete wetness of Zoey and himself, now drying off with a single towel that they had decided to share.

"You guys are insane," Lola put in, nuzzling closer to Vince.

Quinn thought differently. "I dunno. It seems kinda sweet to me," she voiced, smiling.

"Hey!" Logan said. "Was our night not sweet enough for you?"

"Oh, of course it was, baby," Quinn cooed, playing with his locks of hair.

The lounge became silent.

"I will never get used to that," Zoey stated, bringing everyone back.

After a couple of agreed murmurs, Vince said, "Say Michael. Where's_ your_ girl?"

"Ah, she's undecorating the gym," he answered. "Part of the whole prom committee deal."

"So you just left her?" James teased. "Kinda heartless to me, man."

"Whatever," Michael said. "I'll just catch up with Lisa _later._"

A collective "ooh" went around the room and soon broke off into laughter.

Now none of them knew what was in store for tomorrow and they didn't even really care. All that mattered now was that Zoey, Lola, Quinn, Chase, Michael, Logan, Vince and James had formed a strong friendship and would never let it fade.

* * *

**The OTHER Author's Note:** _Okay, so that ending was the ultimate cheese-fest. But, whatever. EL FIN, YO! Lol. Anyway, I know most of us aren't James fans, but I felt like he had almost no closure on the show whatsoever. I actually felt bad for his character. So sue me, I included him in this last part. _

_Well, hope you guys have enjoyed this as much as I have. Thanks for all your reviews/alerts/PMs! You're all awesome! Oh, and check out my newest ficcie if you're interested in the cuteness of Quogan! (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)_

_-Sin_

_BTW: I might rename this fic, just cause. Suggestions are welcome! Oh and also? __**REVIEW!**_


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